Peer review – Peer review is the review of an academic paper by others in the same field as the paper, and a paper must undergo this peer review before it is considered valid. The academics reviewing the paper are known as referees, and a paper may be subjected to many reviews, revisions and resubmissions before being accepted. The peer review phase will usually take several months to complete.

Production process – This phase is essentially getting the paper to print in the journal it was submitted to. Delays of a year or more are not uncommon due to the number of papers accepted and lack of available space

An increasing number of papers are being published online without being subjected to peer review which has raised concerns, but online publication is also applauded by many for helping in the distribution of new and important scientific knowledge.

Considerations When Publishing Academic Papers

There are several categories that academic papers may fall into such as the position paper or the research paper. The academic essay structure and academic paper structure may be altered slightly to conform to a journals “house” style. The writer should be sure that the journal he is submitting to will accept papers on their topic. Often a journal may have similar topics to that of the paper being submitted, but not similar enough to be included for publication. Unless the paper contains ground breaking research or something equally impressive, submission to the top journals in most fields will result in rejection. However a rejection by a leading journal doesn’t mean a paper is lacking. It is an indication of how competitive getting published in a leading journal is.

Publishing Academic Papers Tips and Guidelines

The following are some tips that may help in getting your academic paper accepted for publication:

Clearly state your hypotheses before beginning. Many researchers lose focus of the original hypotheses.

Read and follow all guidelines for manuscript formatting at the journal you are submitting to.

Clear concise and grammatically correct English. No exceptions

Look at the papers recently published in the journal you are interested in. Ask yourself if your paper is of the same quality or better

Respect word length restrictions. Journals have them for a reason.

As a final suggestion have a good cover letter written, and consider having it professionally edited. Then start submitting your paper to journals that interest you, but submit only to one journal at a time. Good luck and keep publishing academic papers.